High Tp/sodium/chloride In Bloodwork

[NeylasMom]

About a month ago I ran a urinalysis on Neyla because there had been a few accidents in the house, but it came back normal (although spec gravity was just outside the normal range on the high end). The vet recommended I test Zuri and/or run blood work on Neyla. I decided to wait and see if the accidents continued, which they didn't, but I did notice Neyla drinking a bit more water and needing to go out more frequently over the next month. The other morning, I noticed her urine looked very dilute when I took her out first thing in the morning so I decided to take her in for the blood work (she had a bout of acute kidney failure back in 2003 so I'm hypersensitive - in that case, we never identified the problem, but she got better and has had normal blood work since).

 

So I have the bloodwork back. Hemoglobin is slightly high and WBC are low, but both are in the normal range for greys and pretty typical for Neyla so no concerns there. Same with creatinine, which is 1.8 (her normal runs 1.6-1.8, when she had kidney problems it was up to 2.5). The high values I am concerned about are these:

 

Total Protein 7.8 (5.0-7.4)

Sodium 177 (139-154)

Chloride 132 (102-120)

 

TP isn't particularly high, but it tends to run low in greys and was only 6.5 in Neyla's bloodwork last year. Last year her sodium and chloride were also within the normal range.

 

From the minimal knowledge I have, these and the slightly high specific gravity all seem to point to dehydration to me. And if something is making her dehydrated, that would explain the increased drinking and need to go out. The question is, is there something going on making her dehydrated? Any input? Should I be concerned, or am I overreacting?

 

I didn't have my usual vet run this blood work, so I sent it over to her today and am waiting for her to call me back to tell me what she thinks and if she thinks we should come in. Just thought I'd get your thoughts in the meantime.

 

Thanks!

Jen

[Jennifer]

I'm not sure as I can be of any help but I am sure someone here can be to you.

[turbotaina]

Hey Jen - do you think it may be diet related? Is she still being raw-fed?

 

Also, have you run the numbers by Christine?

[Burpdog]

I wouldn't be concerned about a one time reading. I'd recheck in 4-6 weeks. Is she raw fed? That will affect the numbers

[Guest paulamariez]

The last time we had blood work done on Bueller, his results came back saying that he was severely dehydrated! We were shocked and felt like such bad greyhound parents. But the vet said that we had to make an effort to get him drinking more often. She suggested bringing the water dish to him, try giving him broth and encourage him to drink more. We brought the bowl to him and it was 50/50 chance that he'd even take a slurp. He laughed at the broth, unless it came with noodles in it, then he'd have some, but tired of that quickly. We ended up giving him watered down milk and bringing it to him a few times a day. And of course, we're still doing it. Bueller is just NOT a big water drinker. But he does seem to be drinking a bit more now that when he was dehydrated. We also found out that Domino was sort of guarding the water dish and sometimes wouldn't let poor Bueller drink much either. So we had to put a stop to that as well. Just putting in my two cents worth. I certainly hope that there's no problems with Neyla and I will keep her tender heart in my prayers!

[feemandvm]

I agree with others... don't get too worried yet but those are some marked elevations and are significant if repeatable. I'd recheck a sample (not complete bloodwork, just an electrolyte panel) and see if they are truly that high.

[TinyMityMo]

that sodium and chloride are definately high - almost dangerously so. I would definately repeat them. Does her skin go down slowly when you pinch it up over her shoulders and on her neck?

[NeylasMom]

Thanks for the input everyone. To respond to your questions, Neyla is still rawfed. However, while rawfeeding does affect some blood work values, it shouldn't affect these ones (it sometimes affects creatinine, hematocrit and BUN, which are all normal here). They're also markedly higher than her "usual" values (we've done yearly blood work since I adopted her) and aside from her first year with me, she's always been raw fed.

 

Regarding pinching her skin, I just did this the other day. Back skin moves back immediately, neck skin may be a little slow, but not much, nothing that concerns me.

 

Regarding water consumption, raw fed dogs don't drink much water because there's so much in her food, so I shouldn't really need to force water on her. Having said that, she's already drinking more than usual (which would explain the increased need to go out).

 

The only thing I can think of is that not to long ago I realized I may not have adjusted my dog's food amounts properly with the season change and both were looking a bit thin. So I increased the amount I was feeding both. I feel like Zuri has gained the weight back, whereas Neyla is having trouble keeping it on given the amount I'm feeding. It's possible I'm just misjudging so at this point, I've decided to feed even larger meals and to start weighing her food again so I can know for sure.

 

We'll see how that goes for a couple of weeks and then rerun the electrolytes I guess. Oh, I didn't mention in my first post that she did weigh in underweight at the vets too. Last note, we started having problems with her seeming exceptionally hungry/having tummy problems a few months ago. It coincided with the time that I doubled her glucosamine/chondroitin dosage, and also somewhat with the season change. I noticed her resource guarding with Zuri more when food was involved, so that's when I upped her food, and also started her on probiotics. The resource guarding subsided, as did the other "hungry" behaviors so I thought we had addressed it. One thing I haven't done is run a fecal. Is that a possibility I should look into? I keep coming back to her not quite keeping on weight completely, and that her food intake is so directly related to her water intake that the dehydration could be a result of that.

 

Meredith - Dr. K actually ran this bloodwork (I took Neyla with me when I took Monell in). She said she wouldn't worry about any of it, but mentioned liver issues as the next step for investigating. I came to the dehydration conclusion myself after doing a small bit on online research, I'm sort of surprised she didn't mention any concerns???

 

Oh, btw, she's completely happy, playful, active and enjoying her walks (as much as her bum toe will allow) so at least that's good. Any other thoughts in light of this? My vet is actually out of town through today so I'm still waiting to hear back from her, so for now my plan to to proceed as mentioned - increased food, track what I'm feeding, and potentially rerun the blood work in a couple of weeks.

 

Thanks again!